Category: Irenee

The Discovery

A couple of weekends ago whilst doing my weekly grocery shopping, I made a discovery as life-altering as man’s discovery of black gold. Okay perhaps that is a gross exaggeration, still, it was a noteworthy find. I had stumbled upon flaxseed (flax) flour. I have long known flax (linseed) to be a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which as we know are paramount for a healthy brain and are essential for the cardiovascular system (heart). But while perusing the nutritional content of the flour two things stood out, namely the protein and fibre contents. Conventional wisdom leads us to believe that the best source of protein is meat in the shape of chicken and beef or protein supplements e.g. protein shakes. But as we shall see, not only are the proposed sources of protein sub-par; they are replete with issues.

Issues with proverbial sources of protein

Elevated fat content (meat)

While lean meats are a high source of protein (chicken and beef contain about 24g per 100g) most of the beef and chicken accessible (and affordable) to the public is not lean. In pursuit of profits, large farms almost unilaterally employ antibiotics to produce jumbo sized chickens and other livestock. In addition to antibiotics, the diet of livestock in factory farms almost sorely consists of corn, a cheaper and fattier feedstock. What all of this culminates in are cows, chickens and pigs with a much higher fat to muscle ratio. Simply put, what we believe are prime sources of protein are nothing but fat-laden, hormone-saturated and protein barren meats. Unless you are getting your protein from free-range sources, you are most likely consuming substandard products. Continue reading “More protein than chicken and 10x cheaper than whey protein”

New year, New Me! Crowds gather at a 5km local park run as part of a strategy to make 2018 a healthy year.

It’s the New Year and judging by the turnout at the local Parkruns (weekly free 5 km volunteer organized running events), there is a large cohort of people who made 2018 the year get in shape. While exercise is a great start to shed some of those excess kilos that we gained over the holidays, it alone isn’t enough. We have all heard of the saying that abs are built in the kitchen, meaning that what we eat has a far greater bearing on our physique than exercise.

Many studies suggest that if we ate well, 80% of the job would be done.

If eating well was easy we would all look swimsuit models, unfortunately, the reality is that many of us are pretty fallible when it comes to diet. We all know what we should eat but sugar, refined carbs, fat and salt are all too damn delicious. Given the choice between pancakes and quinoa after a long stressful day at work – most of us would choose the former. While quinoa is the healthier alternative, cooked quinoa (that is not drenched sauces) is blander than cardboard – it is utterly tasteless.

A few days ago I wanted to make pancakes (anyone who knows me will be aware that pancakes are one of my favourite guilty pleasures – they were the first thing I learned to cook at the tender age of nine) but a part of me was unwilling to make them in the traditional manner. I wanted to transform them into a snack that was both delicious and healthy. Continue reading “Pancakes which make you lose weight?”